Raga (Buddhism)

Raga (Sanskrit, also rāga; Pali lobha; Tibetan: 'dod chags) - is translated as "attachment", "passion", or "desire". It is defined as hankering after things within the three realms of existence; it produces frustration.[1][2] Raga is identified as one of the three poisons. It is also identified as one of the fifty-one or fifty-two mental states (saṅkhāra) within the Abhidharma teachings.

Contents

Traditional definitions

The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:

What is [attachment]? It is the hankering after things ranging over the three levels of existence, and its function is to produce frustrations.[2]

Je Tsongkhapa states:

[Attachment] is a hankering after any pleasurable external or internal object by taking it as pleasing to oneself. For example, just as it is difficult to remove oil stain from it cotton cloth, in the same way, this hankering after and getting more and more involved with the thing makes it very difficult to get rid of.[2]

Contemporary explanations

Mingyur Rinpoche states:

Attachment is in many ways comparable to addiction, a compulsive dependency on external objects or experiences to manufacture an illusion of wholeness. Unfortunately, like other addictions, attachment becomes more intense over time. Whatever satisfaction we might experience when we attain something or someone we desire doesn’t last. Whatever or whoever made us happy today, this month, or this year is bound to change. Change is the only constant of relative reality.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Erik Pema Kunsang (translator) (2004). Gateway to Knowledge, Vol. 1. North Atlantic Books. p. 23.
  2. ^ a b c Herbert V. Guenther & Leslie S. Kawamura, Mind in Buddhist Psychology: A Translation of Ye-shes rgyal-mtshan's "The Necklace of Clear Understanding" Dharma Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Kindle Locations 715-718).
  3. ^ Mingyur Rinpoche (2007), p. 119

References

External links